Thursday, September 26

Kells Brew Pub celebrates first year in business with accolades, brewery expansion

PORTLAND, Ore. – In August of last year, Kells Irish Restaurant –
Portland’s venerable and best-known Irish eatery – opened its second
Portland location at 201 NW 21st Ave. with little fanfare or promotion.
The space included a 10-barrel brewhouse that would brew three styles of
beer in-house for the Kells restaurants in Portland and Seattle.
One year later, Kells Brew Pub is
celebrating a successful first year in business that includes being
named “Best Brew Pub” by the people of Portland in the 2013 KGW Best in
Town event. Voting took place throughout the month of July on the KGW website,
and the winners were announced in August. Kells went up against a
number of area favorites, including Deschutes, Hopworks, Rogue,
Laurelwood and Breakside.

“It was quite an honor to
be recognized among such well established brew pubs,” said owner Gerard
McAleese, a Belfast native who opened the first Kells in Seattle in
1983. “It tells us that we’ve created another neighborhood home away
from home where our customers can gather.”

The Brew Pub is also
acknowledging the fact that it can barely keep up with the demand for
its beer, despite brewing more than 1,000 barrels within its first year,
an impressive number for a brewery with no outside accounts. The demand
has led to a planned expansion for the brewery, which will see the
installation of two new 20-barrel fermenters at the end of this month.

“The
expansion will allow us to continue to serve the needs of our
restaurants, while giving us the ability to make some seasonals and have
a bit of fun,” explained lead brewer Garrett McAleese.

Kells
currently brews an Irish Red Ale, Irish Pale Ale and an Irish Lager.
After a year of experimenting with different yeast strains, the brewers
have settled on final recipes, which are being well-received by the
consumers.

The Brew Pub atmosphere is warm and inviting, with a
European feel and a full menu that includes Irish favorites like sausage
rolls, Irish stew, pasties and shepherd’s pie; alongside items with a
local influence, such as organic kale salad, roasted Draper Valley
chicken, cured salmon, and Northwest oysters.

Kells Brew Pub is
open to all ages seven days a week from 11:30am to close Tuesday through
Friday, 9am to close on weekends, and 4pm to close on Monday. For more
information, visit www.kellsbrewpub.com or call 503-719-7175.

ABOUT KELLS
Serving
the Northwest since 1983, Kells Irish Restaurant is a local family-run
establishment that is consistently voted and ranked among the top Irish
pubs in the United States. With locations in Seattle, Portland and
San Francisco, it is a touchstone of each community that stays true to
its roots, annually hosting the largest St. Patrick’s Day festival
in the Northwest. Owners Gerard and Lucille McAleese are also recognized
for their generosity to a number of nonprofits and
community organizations. For more information, visit www.kellsirish.com.